Leinster Lightning's Albert van der Merwe Rues Fielding Lapses

Leinster Lighteing Spinner Albert van der Merwe reacts to his teams exciting draw with the North West Warriors. Having dominated large parts of the game they are disappointed not to have come away with full points.

Barry Chambers: Albert it must be gutting for Leinster Lightning, I mean they dominated probably 95% of that match, and to come away with a draw?

Albert van der Merwe (Leinster Lightning): Yeah obviously we're disappointed, but like you said for nearly all the sessions we've been on top, and to walk away and have four overs to chase down something small. You know the game wasn't lost in the last four overs, you certainly couldn't fault the batters for going out there. Yeah we'll be disappointed. It's a good start for us, we played good cricket.

Maybe let it slip fielding wise, catches gone down, and instead of having to get twenty wickets, we nearly needed thirty wickets. So a good effort from the boys. It wasn't always easy out there, the wicket got a bit slower, but the boys certainly bowled probably better in the second innings. But yeah disappointing.

Barry Chambers: Max Sorensen was outstanding in this game. I was speaking to a few of the North West boys, that they haven't really faced anything like that?

Albert van der Merwe: Max has come on massively over the last kind of 18 to 24 months. And like he would have said himself, maybe he was a little bit disappointed with his early season form, and going away in the Intercontinental Cup and all that. And he's worked very hard since we've had the first fifty over Interprovincial Game, and he's come back this week and led the attack. Probably a little bit inexperienced attack, and led it and was superb for us throughout.

Barry Chambers: Eddie Richardson and Tyrone Kane seem to have improved in the past year, they've got an extra yard of pace and they're definitely doing things with the ball, both of them?

Albert van der Merwe: Yeah like I mean I've played, we played Eddie a couple of weeks ago in club cricket, and I mean Eddie has come on as a Cricketer massively and he's a real threat with the ball. And you know even his batting, he's done really well over the last three weeks in club cricket. He's capable of taking wickets, and he supported max brilliantly, I mean two very different bowlers, but they've taken the wickets early doors and set the standard for the boys going into the innings.

Barry Chambers: And the beauty of this series is that the games come thick and fast in different formats. There's not really time to feel sorry for yourselves, you've just got to move on?

Albert van der Merwe:  No, not at all, I don't think the bunch of lads down there are the type to feel sorry for themselves, they'll be disappointed, they will take what they have to take away from this game, and move forward and hit the next training sessions hard, and go back to club cricket and produce. And I think that's what the boys have done around the squad. There's massive competition for places. I mean there's lads sitting in the wings that could easily get onto any of the three sides. But that's the competitive nature of this side, and you know I think that's good for everyone going forward.

Barry Chambers: It's amazing how Leinster have bonded, like the other Unions, there's no playing for yourselves, One of the criticisms of Interprovincial Competitions in the past is people have tended to play for themselves, but there's a great team spirit around all the teams, I've noticed?

Albert van der Merwe: Yeah, it's great, I mean the boys want to win, I think that's the main thing. It's not about who gets the runs or who gets the wickets, it's the boys want to win. And like I said, that's why we're disappointed today, coming away with ten points instead of the maximum. We have great depth, there's a lot of options in all departments, and putting the pressure on each other, and it's good for the competiveness. But there's a great atmosphere in the changing room, around training, and just going forward.